One of the knotty problems in Vedānta is the relation of ātmā with the three guṇas of prakṛti. Ātmā, although conditioned by the material guṇas, never contacts them. The guṇas of prakṛti are not inherent in the ātmā and have no direct contact with it. The self does not have any type of relation with the guṇas, such as contact (saṁyoga), because ātmā is not corporeal.

Because the nature of ātmā is jñāna, it is self-luminous. The ātmā’s intrinsic “I” is called ahamartha and is not the same as the conditional “I” called ahaṅkāra, which is projected through the mind to form a knot between ātmā and a material body. Ahaṅkāra is tangible as the delusion that a material body is the true self.